BIOGRAPHY

Yvonnick Prené is a singular voice in modern jazz, a chromatic harmonica virtuoso whose work as a performer, composer, bandleader, and educator has made him a fixture on the international jazz scene. Based in the New York City area, he is widely recognized as one of today’s most innovative harmonicists.

Prené has released six acclaimed albums as a leader, carving a path for the harmonica in modern jazz. His 2023 release Listen! on Sunnyside Records featured an all-star lineup including pianist Kevin Hays, drummer Bill Stewart, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, and bassist Clovis Nicolas. His 2024 follow-up, Jobim’s World, a tribute to the timeless music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, found Prené in lyrical conversation with celebrated pianist Geoffrey Keezer. Most recently, Un Harmonica pour Django, recorded in Paris, brought him together with some of France’s top string players, including Biréli Lagrène, Adrien Moignard, Mathieu Chatelain, and Diego Imbert.

As a sought-after collaborator, Prené has performed or recorded with an impressive array of artists, including Peter Bernstein, Rick Margitza, Pasquale Grasso, Jon Cowherd, Rich Perry, Donald Edwards, Vic Juris, Lorin Cohen, Brian Charette, Ira Coleman, Jared Gold, Rick Germanson, Arthur Vint, Radam Schwartz, Jeb Patton, Jerome Sabbagh, and Klingande, among others. He also appeared on national television performing with Blood Orange on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

His international touring schedule has taken him to leading jazz festivals across the globe, from the Rochester International Jazz Festival and Winter Jazz Fest in New York to Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Festival Émoi du Jazz in Côte d’Ivoire, Lamentin Jazz Festival in Martinique, Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago, Jazz Sur Seine in Paris, El Primer Festival Internacional de Armónica in Santiago, Chile, the Gypsy Festival in New York City, and many more. In New York City, he has appeared as a leader and sideman at iconic venues such as Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, Smalls, The Iridium, Zinc Bar, and The Django.

Beyond the stage, Prené is deeply committed to education. He is the founder of both the New York Harmonica School and My Harmonica Studio, institutions that have guided over 500 students in the art of harmonica playing. He has authored ten instructional books on jazz improvisation, blues, and etudes for harmonica, and has served on the faculty of Jazz House Kids, the New York Jazz Workshop, and Brooklyn Music School.

His artistry has also earned him a prominent endorsement as a Hohner Ambassador. The legendary German harmonica manufacturer selected Prené as the face of its new flagship 12-hole chromatic harmonica, the Xpression—an instrument designed with expressive jazz performance in mind.

Born and raised in Massy, in the southern suburbs of Paris, Prené studied classical music and jazz in France before moving to New York in 2007. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Music from the Sorbonne and earned a second Bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. While in New York, he studied under jazz greats including Lee Konitz, Charli Persip, Charles Tolliver, and Reggie Workman.

With a rare blend of technical command, melodic sensitivity, and tireless creative curiosity, Yvonnick Prené continues to expand the voice of the harmonica in 21st-century jazz.